JPH10192793A - Glass bottle sorter - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To efficiently recover raw bottles by making it possible to sort the used glass bottles with each of shapes with good accuracy. SOLUTION: This glass bottle sorter has a guiding conveyor 10 which transports the glass bottles G by one piece each, an identifying section 16 which identifies the transported glass bottles G and a discharging conveyor 11 which transports the glass bottles G delivered from this guiding conveyor 10 and discharges the glass bottles to any of plural discharge ports 13 in accordance with the signals from this identifying section 16. The identifying section 16 detects the shapes of the glass bottles G and has discriminating means 17 for selecting the glass bottles meeting the corresponding shapes from the previously stored plural types and outputting the signals corresponding thereto.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a glass bottle sorting apparatus for sorting glass bottles by shape in order to reuse used glass bottles as resources.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, from the viewpoint of resource saving and effective utilization, there is a tendency to collect used glass bottles and reuse them as resources. About half of such glass bottles are colorless and transparent, but there are also many others that are colored brown, black, green, blue, etc. It is necessary to sort.
For this reason, an apparatus for sorting these glass bottles by color is being developed.

FIG. 10 shows a sorter for sorting such glass bottles by color. The sorting apparatus includes a conveyor 1 for conveying a plurality of glass bottles G, a guide conveyor 2 for aligning and conveying the glass bottles G fed by the conveyor 1, and an identification for identifying the colors of the glass bottles G on the guide conveyor 2. The apparatus comprises a device 3 and a discharge conveyor 5 for discharging the glass bottle G whose color has been identified by the identification device 3 to an outlet 4 provided for each color. The identification device 3 includes a light 6 provided below the guide conveyor 2 and a camera 7 for detecting the transmitted light passing through the glass bottle G. The camera 7 transmits the light of the glass bottle G passing directly below. Light is sequentially detected one by one over the length direction.

[0004] An identification unit (not shown) identifies the color of the glass bottle G based on the image signal from the camera 7. Thereafter, the glass bottles G are placed on the tray 8 of the discharge conveyor 5 and transported one by one. When the glass bottle G reaches the predetermined discharge port 4, the tray 8 is tilted and discharged to the discharge port 4. Sorted by color.

[0005]

However, in the above-described sorting apparatus, the glass bottle G can be sorted for each color, but not for each shape. Therefore, regardless of the shape of the glass bottle G, the same color is discharged collectively to the same discharge port 4. Incidentally, the used glass bottles include "living bottles" such as beer bottles and shochu bottles, the inside of which is washed after being collected and used as it is as a product. Therefore, even if the glass bottle is sorted by the above sorting device,
Simply sort by color, including living bottles
, Glass bottles G of the same color other than the live bottles are discharged together.

[0006] In this case, when collecting the living bottles, it is necessary to search out the glass bottles of the same color, and there is a problem that it is difficult to efficiently collect the living bottles. It is also conceivable that an operator visually collects the live bottles from the glass bottles G conveyed by the conveyer 1 or the like. However, the processing speed is limited and the collection efficiency is poor. Among them, for example, the shapes of beer bottles are slightly different for each sales company, and there is a problem that it is difficult to select a live bottle (beer bottle) for each sales company. When automating the sorting of living bottles, speeding up the sorting process is important in improving the processing efficiency.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and a glass bottle sorting apparatus capable of sorting used glass bottles with high accuracy for each shape, thereby enabling efficient collection of living bottles. It is intended to provide a device.

[0008]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems and to achieve the above object, a glass bottle sorting apparatus according to claim 1 comprises a guide conveyor for conveying glass bottles one by one, and a glass bottle for conveying glass bottles. An identification unit for identifying, and a glass bottle sorting device including a discharge conveyor that conveys a glass bottle sent out from the guide conveyor and discharges the glass bottle to any of a plurality of discharge ports based on a signal from the identification unit, The identification unit detects the shape of the glass bottle, and includes a discriminating unit that selects one that matches the shape from a plurality of types stored in advance and outputs a signal corresponding to the shape. And Claim 2
The glass bottle sorting apparatus according to the above, wherein the identification unit includes pre-processing information detection means for detecting pre-processing information for the glass bottle, the determination means, based on the pre-processing information from the pre-processing information detection means, A group is selected from the grouped types, and a suitable type is selected from the group. A glass bottle sorting apparatus according to a third aspect is the glass bottle sorting apparatus according to the first or second aspect, wherein color information and length information of the glass bottle are used as the preprocessing information. A glass bottle sorting apparatus according to a fourth aspect is the glass bottle sorting apparatus according to the third aspect, wherein the preprocessing information includes direction information of the glass bottle. Claim 5
5. The glass bottle sorting apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the discriminating means of the identification unit is characterized in that, based on preprocessing information from the preprocessing information detecting means, a characteristic portion of the glass bottle. Is characterized by detecting the shape at. The glass bottle sorting device according to claim 6,
The glass bottle sorting apparatus according to claim 5, wherein at least one of a shoulder shape and a mouth shape of the glass bottle is used as a characteristic portion of the glass bottle.

As described above, in the glass bottle sorting apparatus according to the first aspect, the identification unit detects the shape of the glass bottle and selects one that matches the shape from a plurality of types stored in advance. In order to provide a discriminating means for outputting a signal corresponding to this, the glass bottle is discharged to a discharge port appropriately determined by a discharge conveyor based on the output signal, so that the glass bottle can be accurately sorted for each shape, The collection of living bottles can be performed efficiently. In the glass bottle sorting apparatus according to claim 2, the identification unit includes preprocessing information detecting means for detecting preprocessing information for the glass bottle, and the discriminating means preliminarily sets the preprocessing information based on the preprocessing information from the preprocessing information detecting means. One group is selected from the grouped types, and a suitable type is selected from the group. Therefore, the type can be selected from within the group based on the preprocessing information, and the selection speed is improved. Thereby, it becomes possible to further improve the collection efficiency of the living bottle. In the glass bottle sorting apparatus according to claim 3, since the color information and the length information of the glass bottle are used as the preprocessing information, the group corresponding to the color information and the length information can be reliably selected based on the color information and the length information. This makes it possible for the identification unit using the preprocessing information to accurately select the type. Since the glass bottle sorting apparatus according to claim 4 includes the direction information of the glass bottle in the pre-processing information, the shape is selected after appropriately considering the direction of the glass bottle by the identification unit based on the direction information. Thus, regardless of the orientation of the glass bottle conveyed to the guide conveyor, the shape of the glass bottle can be easily selected, and labor for an operator or the like can be saved. According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, the discriminating unit of the identification unit detects the shape of the characteristic portion of the glass bottle based on the preprocessing information from the preprocessing information detecting unit. By partially detecting the shape while enabling the selection, the detection operation time can be shortened, and the type can be more efficiently selected. In the glass bottle sorting device according to claim 6, since at least one of the shoulder shape and the mouth shape of the glass bottle is used as a characteristic portion of the glass bottle, for example, when the glass bottle is a beer bottle, the shape is slightly changed by each selling company. Even if they differ, the shape detection time can be shortened and the processing efficiency can be improved while the type is reliably selected based on the characteristic portion such as the bottle length.

[0010]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.
This will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a glass bottle sorting apparatus according to the present invention. Here, the glass bottle G is
The glass bottles G which are conveyed from the conveyor 9 to the discharge conveyor 11 via the guide conveyor 10 and which are randomly conveyed on the conveyor 9 are transferred to the guide conveyor 10.
The discharge conveyor 11 is appropriately selected and discharged from the discharge conveyor 11 to a predetermined discharge port 12.

The conveyor 9 feeds the glass bottle G to the guide conveyor 10, and its form is arbitrary. In addition, as a method for connecting the conveyor 9 to the guide conveyor 10, the conveyor 9 may be arranged orthogonally as shown in FIG. 1 or arranged in series as shown in FIG. When the glass bottle G is supplied to the transport conveyor 9, a bag breaking machine or a container reversing machine is used.

The guide conveyor 10 is configured by arranging two belt conveyors 12 in a V-shape. The glass bottles G fed from the conveyor 9 are aligned in the V-shape recess to form a single one. I will guide you one by one. In addition,
The guide conveyer 10 is not limited to the illustrated form, and for example, a guide conveyer including rollers arranged in a V-shape as shown in FIG. 9 may be used.

The discharge conveyor 11 is connected in series with the guide conveyor 10, and has a plurality of discharge ports 13 along its longitudinal direction. This discharge conveyor 11
A plurality of holding plates are aligned and attached to a chain spanned by a pair of sprockets.
Is provided. Therefore, the discharge conveyor 11
Has a keyboard shape in which a number of transport plates 14 are arranged at a predetermined pitch along the longitudinal direction.

The transport plate 14 has a holding surface having a substantially V-shaped upper surface, and each of the transport plates 14 is provided so as to be rotatable about a horizontal direction. Also, the transport plate 14
Are formed in a narrow width, specifically, formed to be shorter than the length of the smallest glass bottle G to be sorted, and are arranged at a pitch slightly larger than this width dimension. ing. Therefore, the glass bottle G is placed and transported by the holding surfaces of the plurality of transport plates 14, and the transport plates 14 rotate to tilt each holding surface, thereby discharging the glass bottle G to the side of the discharge conveyor 11. Is done. As a result, the glass bottle G is discharged to any one of the discharge ports 13.

Further, in order to rotate the transport plate 14 at a predetermined position, rotation start means 15 are provided at a plurality of positions corresponding to each discharge port 13 along the longitudinal direction of the discharge conveyor 11. This rotation start means 15 is provided with an identification unit 16 described later.
The transport plate 14 passing through the rotation start means 15 is rotated by a predetermined number based on the signal from the control unit 15 to discharge the placed glass bottle G to the discharge port 13. The configuration is arbitrary. Things are used.

For example, when the transport plate 14 is urged in a predetermined rotation direction by an elastic member such as a spring and the rotation thereof is locked by a locking member, the rotation start means 15 is provided by a solenoid or the like. A device that operates so as to release the locking of the locking member only for a predetermined number of transport plates 14 using the above-described method (Japanese Patent Application No. 6-168429 filed by the present applicant;
Etc.). However, the present invention is not limited to such a configuration, and is configured to simply rotatably support the transport plate 14 and appropriately rotate each transport plate 14 by the movable arm of the rotation start means 15. There may be. The transport plate 14 that has been rotated and the holding surface is inclined is returned to the original state on the return side (lower side) of the discharge conveyor 11, and the glass bottle G
Is placed in a state where it can be placed.

The number of the outlets 13 is set to
Can be increased or decreased as appropriate in accordance with the number of selections.
Set according to the number of. Further, the discharge conveyor 11
However, the present invention is not limited to the form shown in FIG. 1, and for example, a tray 8 as shown in FIG. 9 may be used. In this case, the rotation start means 1
As 5, various forms that can rotate the tray 8 appropriately are used.

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram showing the identification unit 16 for identifying the shape and the like of the glass bottle G. The identification unit 16 includes a preprocessing information detection unit 17, a determination unit 18, and a data storage unit 19, and outputs the data to one of the rotation start units 15. Then, as shown in FIG. 1, the preprocessing information detecting means 17 is provided on the transport end side of the guide conveyor 10, and the determining means 18 is provided on the transport start end side of the discharge conveyor 11.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the form of the preprocessing information detecting means 17. The preprocessing information detecting means 17 is a light emitting device (not shown) provided below the guide conveyor 10.
And a camera 20 provided above the guide conveyor 10 in opposition to the light-emitting device. The glass bottle G conveyed to the guide conveyor 10 is illuminated from below by the light-emitting device to the belt conveyor 12. , A gap 21 between 12
The light transmitted through the glass bottle G is taken into the camera 20.

The preprocessing information detecting means 17 splits the light into three wavelengths of red, green and blue based on the light taken into the camera 20, and determines the transparency,
The system is classified into brown, green, blue, black, and other six systems, and is detected as color information of the glass bottle G, which is one of the preprocessing information. That is, the image signal from the camera 20 is compared with a plurality of color data stored in the data storage unit 19 in advance, and the corresponding one is determined as color information. Note that such color identification is performed at a plurality of locations on the glass bottle G, and comprehensively determined based on these. Therefore, even if the label is still attached to the glass bottle G, the detection result is not affected by the label.

Further, the preprocessing information detecting means 17 measures the length of the glass bottle G based on the light taken into the camera 20, and uses this as the length information of the glass bottle G which is one of the preprocessing information. Detected. Therefore, for one glass bottle G, the pre-processing information detecting means 17 detects the pre-processing information including the color information and the length information. However, whether or not to use the color information and the length information is arbitrary as the preprocessing information, and other information may be used as long as the glass bottle G can be classified into some types. The means for measuring the length of the glass bottle G is not limited to a camera, but may be a photoelectric sensor, a laser discrimination sensor, an ultrasonic sensor, or the like.

Further, the preprocessing information detected by the preprocessing information detecting means 17 includes direction information identifying the direction of the glass bottle G. This direction information identifies whether the bottle mouth of the glass bottle G faces forward or backward in the transport direction by various sensors such as a limit switch. However,
Whether or not to include the direction information in the preprocessing information is optional.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the form of the determining means 18. The discriminating means 18 includes a light emitting device 22 provided on the side of the discharge conveyor 11 and a camera 23 provided on the side of the discharge conveyor 11 opposed to the light emitting device 22.
The light emitting device 22 illuminates the glass bottle G placed and transported on the transport plate 14 of the discharge conveyor 11 from the side, so that an image of the entire glass bottle G is captured as a silhouette. . Therefore, camera 2
The image captured in 3 does not need to be color,
It may be black and white.

The discriminating means 18 detects the shape of the glass bottle G based on the image signal captured by the camera 23, and stores the detection result in a plurality of shape types stored in the data storage unit 19 in advance. Compared with the data, the corresponding one is selected from these.

FIG. 5 shows a means for detecting the shape of the glass bottle G by the determining means 18. First, an inspection window 24 is set in an image signal captured by the camera 23. The inspection window 24 indicates a detectable area, and is set in advance to have a size that can accommodate a single bottle, but is not limited to this. Note that parts other than the inspection window 24 are not inspected. Further, since the glass bottle G is placed on the transport plate 14, the image from the side of the discharge conveyor 11 indicates that the glass bottle G
The lower side (mounting surface side) is hidden by the transport plate 14. Therefore, in the inspection window 24 of FIG. 5, the lower end of the region is set so as to cut the lower side of the glass bottle G halfway. No error occurs.

Next, a vertical bottle diameter inspection line 25 is set at a predetermined position in the inspection window 24, and if there is a location of a light and shade boundary line (256 gradations) on the bottle diameter inspection line 25, this is set. Detect as an edge. Then, the value obtained by adding the distance from the edge to the lower boundary line of the inspection window 24 by the amount of the glass bottle G cut by the lower boundary line is determined as the bottle diameter. The setting position of the bottle diameter inspection line 25 is at the bottom of the glass bottle G (the left end of the glass bottle G in FIG. 5).
However, the present invention is not limited to this, and may be set at the center of the glass bottle G.

Subsequently, a bottle length inspection line 26 is set in a horizontal direction at a position where the bottle diameter becomes one half of the bottle diameter, and a shading inspection (edge detection) work (a ruler is mounted on the bottle length inspection line 26). Is performed), the mouth and the bottom of the glass bottle G are detected from the plurality of detected edges, and the bottle length of the glass bottle G is determined from these.

Next, based on the bottle length of the glass bottle G, FIG.
The inspection line 27 in the vertical direction is set at the position registered in the data storage unit 19, and the shading inspection work is performed for each of them, and the bottle diameter at each position is measured by the edge detected from each inspection line 27. The setting position and the number of the inspection lines 27 can be arbitrarily set, and a large number of inspection lines 27 can be set at a short pitch. However, if the inspection lines 27 are set corresponding to the positions of the shoulder shape and the mouth shape, which are the characteristic portions of the glass bottle G, the detection time is shortened while judging the shape of the glass bottle G, so that the processing speed is improved. It is preferred in that respect.

FIGS. 6 to 8 show examples of the set position of the inspection line 27. FIG. FIG. 6 shows a case where the glass bottle G is a beer bottle. As described above, seven inspection lines 27 are set at positions registered in the data storage unit 19 in advance from the bottle length of the glass bottle G determined by the bottle length inspection line 26. In such a beer bottle, since the shape of the shoulder is characteristic, it is preferable to determine the shape of the glass bottle G by setting the inspection line 27 at a short pitch for the shoulder.

FIG. 7 shows a case where the glass bottle G is a single bottle. Then, similarly to the above, seven inspection lines 27 are set at positions registered in the data storage unit 19 in advance from the bottle length of the glass bottle G. In such a bottle,
Similar to a beer bottle, it is characterized by its shoulder shape, and the shading test is performed on this shoulder portion. However, since the shoulder portion is wider than that of a beer bottle, the inspection line 27 is set at a slightly wider pitch, and It is preferable to determine the shape.

FIG. 8 shows a case where the glass bottle G is a whiskey bottle. Then, similarly to the above, seven inspection lines 27 are set at positions registered in the data storage unit 19 in advance from the bottle length of the glass bottle G. In such a whiskey bottle, since the shape of the shoulder and the shape of the mouth are characteristic, an inspection line 27 is set for the shoulder and the mouth,
It is preferable to determine the shape of the glass bottle G.

However, the setting position of the inspection line 27 is
Needless to say, the present invention is not limited to the form shown in FIG. In addition, for glass bottles G other than beer bottles, bottles, whiskey bottles, for example, cola bottles, juice bottles, and the like,
The inspection unit 27 is registered in the data storage unit 19 so as to set the inspection line 27 for each characteristic portion, and the corresponding glass bottle G is registered.
From the bottle manager of each.

Next, the bottle length and each bottle diameter detected as described above are compared with the respective values registered in the data storage unit 19, and if the values are within the set error range. It is determined that this glass bottle G is one of the glass bottles registered in advance. Then, the determined glass bottle is compared with various types of glass bottles registered in the data storage unit 19 to determine which type of glass bottle is used.

FIG. 9 is a memory map showing the types of glass bottles stored in the data storage unit 19.
As shown in FIG. 9, the shapes of the glass bottles are stored as type 1, type 2,..., And the type 1 to type 10 are group A, and the type 11 to type 16 are group B. , A plurality of types are collectively referred to as group C, group D,.... Such a group is configured such that, for example, a group A from type 1 to type 10 is a beer bottle, a group B from type 11 to type 16 is a bottle, and a group C is a whiskey bottle.

Therefore, when comparing which type of glass bottle is used, rather than comparing the glass bottles G in order from type 1, if the group is determined in advance and compared from the types in the group, the number of comparisons decreases. Therefore, the processing can be speeded up. Therefore, as shown in FIG.
Based on the pre-processing information from the pre-processing information detecting means 17, the determining means 18 determines which group the glass bottle G should be compared with. That is, the determination unit 18 receives the color information and the length information as the preprocessing information, and determines a corresponding group from the groups registered in the data storage unit 19 in advance.

Therefore, for example, when a glass bottle G of type 3 is conveyed, the preprocessing information (color information and length information) from the preprocessing information detecting means 17 determines that the discriminating means 18 is group A. Then, the shape of the glass bottle G detected by the determination means 18 is sequentially compared among the types 1 to 10 in the group A, and it is determined that the glass bottle G is the type 3, and is output from the identification unit 16. .

The setting position of the inspection line 27 as shown in FIGS. 5 to 8 may be determined based on the pre-processing information from the pre-processing information detecting means 17. Thereby, the setting position of the inspection line 27 can be determined early, and the processing speed can be improved. Further, based on the preprocessing information from the preprocessing information detecting means 17, the discriminating means 18 judges whether the glass bottle G to be conveyed is a live bottle or other miscellaneous bottles. The type may be determined, and in the case of a miscellaneous bottle, the identification unit 16 may output a simple discharge based on color information (pre-processing information).

When the preprocessing information includes direction information, it is possible to determine the direction of the glass bottle G sent to the determination means 18. Therefore, when the state of the glass bottle G in FIG. 5 is set to the normal direction, when the glass bottle G is sent in the opposite direction, based on the direction information in which the direction of the glass bottle G is reversed, the determination unit 18 determines the vertical direction. The processing is started with the set positions of the bottle diameter inspection line 25 and the inspection line 27 reversed left and right. Accordingly, the determination process can be performed without considering the direction of the glass bottle G, and the processing efficiency can be improved.

Next, the output from the identification unit 16 is output to one of the rotation start means 15 shown in FIG. The determination of the rotation start means 15 to be output and the setting of the operation timing are performed by the determination means 18 taking out predetermined data from the registered data storage unit 19. In other words, when the type of the glass bottle G to be conveyed is determined, or when the glass bottle G is determined to be a miscellaneous bottle, the rotation start means 15 corresponding to the discharge port 13 to be discharged is determined. The operation timing is output so that the rotation start means 15 operates at the time when the rotation reaches the discharge port 13.

For setting the operation timing of the rotation start means 15, a timer system using the transport time of the glass bottle G by the discharge conveyor 11 and an encoder system using the transport distance of the glass bottle G by the discharge conveyor 11 are used. The timer method uses, for example, a transport time from when the glass bottle G has passed through the determination means 18 to when it reaches the determined rotation start means 15 as the operation timing,
The transport time is changed for each of the determined rotation start means 15.

On the other hand, the encoder system uses, as the operation timing, for example, the transport distance after the glass bottle G has passed through the determining means 18 and reaches the determined rotation starting means 15. The transport distance is changed for each start means 15. However, the rotation start means 1
The setting of the operation timing of 5 is not limited to these, and another method may be used. further,
The number of transfer plates 14 tilted by the rotation start means 15 is
The length is appropriately determined based on the length information as the preprocessing information and the detection result of the bottle length detected by the determination unit 18.

As shown in FIG. 1, a plastic identifying device 28 is provided between the preprocessing information detecting means 17 and the discriminating means 18. This plastic identification device 28 uses the near-infrared spectroscopy method to perform material identification utilizing the fact that the wavelength of light absorption differs for each material.
It is to identify whether or not the transported object is plastic. Whether or not to provide this is optional.

However, by providing the plastic identification device 28, not only the glass bottle G but also the PET bottle can be selected, and the efficiency of waste collection processing can be further improved. If the plastic identification device 28 determines that the conveyed material is plastic, the discriminating means 18 outputs it to the rotation start means 15 corresponding to the discharge port 13 to be discharged. Will be.

Next, the use state of the glass bottle sorting apparatus will be described. (1) In the case where the glass bottle G is a living bottle The glass bottle G is sent from the conveyor 9 to the guide conveyor 10, and is transferred from the color information, the length information, and the direction information by the preprocessing information detecting unit 17 during the transfer on the guide conveyor 10. Is detected. Subsequently, the glass bottle G is sent to the discharge conveyor 11, and the type is determined by the determination unit 18. At this time, the determination means 18 extracts one group from the data storage unit 19 based on the preprocessing information, and selects a suitable type from the types in the one group. Then, the operation timing is output to the rotation start means 15 corresponding to the discharge port 13 from which the glass bottle G of this type is to be discharged. Subsequently, the glass bottle G is transported by the discharge conveyor 11, and
When the rotation start means 15 is reached, a predetermined number of transport plates 1
4 is discharged to the discharge port 13 by tilting.

(2) In the case where the glass bottle G is a miscellaneous bottle The glass bottle G is sent from the conveyor 9 to the guide conveyor 10, and the color information and the length information are detected by the pre-processing information detecting means 17 during the transfer on the guide conveyor 10. Preprocessing information consisting of direction information is detected. Subsequently, the determination unit 18 determines that the glass bottle G is a miscellaneous bottle based on the preprocessing information. Then, the determination means 18 outputs the operation timing to the rotation start means 15 corresponding to the discharge port 13 from which the glass bottle G is to be discharged, based on the color information and the length information of the preprocessing information. Subsequently, the glass bottle G is conveyed by the discharge conveyer 11, and is discharged to the discharge port 13 by tilting a predetermined number of the transfer plates 14 when the glass bottle G reaches the rotation start unit 15.

As described above, when the glass bottle G is a living bottle, the glass bottle G is discharged to the discharge port 13 for each type, so that the sorting of the glass bottle G is performed efficiently. In addition, glass bottle G
Is a miscellaneous bottle, since the preprocessing information is used by the preprocessing information detecting means 17 and the shape is not detected by the discriminating means 18, it is possible to efficiently sort the miscellaneous bottles, and the Even if a miscellaneous bottle is included in the glass bottle G, the processing speed can be increased.

[0047]

As described above, according to the glass bottle sorting apparatus according to the first aspect, the identification unit detects the shape of the glass bottle and selects one that matches the shape from a plurality of types stored in advance. In order to provide a discriminating means for selecting and outputting a signal corresponding to this, the glass bottle is discharged to a discharge port appropriately determined by a discharge conveyor based on the output signal, so that the glass bottle is precisely formed for each shape. Sorting is possible, and the collection of living bottles can be performed efficiently. In the glass bottle sorting apparatus according to claim 2, the identification unit includes preprocessing information detecting means for detecting preprocessing information for the glass bottle, and the discriminating means preliminarily sets the preprocessing information based on the preprocessing information from the preprocessing information detecting means. One group is selected from the grouped types, and a suitable type is selected from the group. Therefore, the type can be selected from within the group based on the preprocessing information, and the selection speed is improved. Thereby, the collection efficiency of the living bottle can be further improved. Since the glass bottle sorting device according to claim 3 uses the color information and the length information of the glass bottle as the pre-processing information, the group corresponding to the color information and the length information can be reliably selected based on the color information and the length information. Thereby, in the identification unit using the preprocessing information, the type can be selected with high accuracy. Since the glass bottle sorting apparatus according to claim 4 includes the direction information of the glass bottle in the preprocessing information, the shape is selected after appropriately considering the direction of the glass bottle by the identification unit based on the direction information. Thus, regardless of the orientation of the glass bottle conveyed to the guide conveyor, the shape of the glass bottle can be easily selected, labor for an operator or the like can be saved, and processing efficiency can be improved. In the glass bottle sorting apparatus according to the fifth aspect, the discriminating unit of the identification unit detects the shape of the characteristic portion of the glass bottle based on the preprocessing information from the preprocessing information detecting unit. The detection work time can be shortened by partially detecting the shape while the selection is possible, and the type can be selected more efficiently. In the glass bottle sorting apparatus according to claim 6, since at least one of the shoulder shape and the mouth shape of the glass bottle is used as a characteristic portion of the glass bottle, for example, when the glass bottle is a beer bottle, the shape is slightly changed by each selling company. Even if they are different, the shape detection time can be reduced and the processing efficiency can be improved while the type is reliably selected based on the characteristic portion such as the bottle length.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of a glass bottle sorting apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram illustrating an identification unit.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a preprocessing information detecting unit.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a determination unit.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing a glass bottle shape detecting means by a discriminating means.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing a setting position of an inspection line in the case of a beer bottle.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing a setting position of an inspection line in the case of a single bottle.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram showing a setting position of an inspection line in the case of a whiskey bottle.

FIG. 9 is a memory map diagram regarding types of glass bottles stored in a data storage unit.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing a conventional embodiment of a glass bottle sorting apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 10 Guide conveyor 11 Discharge conveyor 13 Discharge port 16 Identification unit 17 Preprocessing information detection means 18 Determination means

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Keiko Toyama 3-1-1-15 Toyosu, Koto-ku, Tokyo Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. Tojin Technical Center (72) Inventor Mitsuhiro Yamashina Toyosu 3-chome, Koto-ku, Tokyo No. 1-15 Ishikawajima Harima Heavy Industries, Ltd. Toji Technical Center

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A guide conveyor for transporting glass bottles one by one, an identification unit for identifying the glass bottles to be transported, and a plurality of discharge bottles for transporting the glass bottles sent from the guide conveyor and based on signals from the identification unit. A glass bottle sorting apparatus comprising: a discharge conveyor that discharges the glass bottle to one of outlets, wherein the identification unit detects a shape of the glass bottle and adapts to the shape from a plurality of types stored in advance. A glass bottle sorting apparatus comprising: a discriminating means for selecting a product and outputting a signal corresponding to the selected product. 2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the identifying unit includes a preprocessing information detecting unit that detects preprocessing information for the glass bottle, and the discriminating unit classifies in advance based on the preprocessing information from the preprocessing information detecting unit. 2. The glass bottle sorting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a group is selected from the selected types, and a suitable type is selected from the group. 3. The glass bottle sorting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein color information and length information of the glass bottle are used as the preprocessing information. 4. The glass bottle sorting apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the pre-processing information includes direction information of the glass bottle. 5. The identification unit according to claim 2, wherein the determination unit detects a shape of a characteristic portion of the glass bottle based on preprocessing information from the preprocessing information detection unit. Or the glass bottle sorting apparatus according to 4. 6. The glass bottle sorting apparatus according to claim 5, wherein at least one of a shoulder shape and a mouth shape of the glass bottle is used as a characteristic portion of the glass bottle.